I went to RockUSA in 2015, but skipped in 2016. I had planned to go this year and was happy my buddy Kevin had some extra passes that saved me a few bucks. After driving from Michigan to his place by Oshkosh, we first got provisions and then headed to set up the night before the festival so we could do a little pre-party.
Even though I had partied hard the night before, I was the first one up. It's hard to sleep with the sun beating down on my tent. I was actually up before 8am. I guess it did give me time to work on my blog.
I cracked my first beer at 10am.
Unlike the rain I had experienced in Kenosha the day before, I was happy to see the radar was clear.
Judging by the dirt road and troll bridge by our campsite, we'd probably have issues if we received a bunch of rain.
Before you knew it, everyone else starting peaking their heads out and we started drinking and playing games. When we realized that we should probably get to the concert grounds, we started walking and made out way to the inside.
The line ended up being kind of long. They had their new security measures in place, so it definitely took longer. I'm also happy I was camping because their no re-entry policy for people not camping seemed a bit absurd.
Talking about absurd, having to pay for an over 21 drinking wristband! The concept itself is solid because it saves the bartenders a bunch of work not having to always check ID's, but the fact that you're already paying $6-10 a drink is a bit absurd to have to pay for an additional wristband. I guess it's something you have to deal with, but it seems like they like the nickel and dime you everywhere they can. This was the absolute opposite I experienced in Canada at Bluesfest.
Now I don't want to sound like I'm complaining too much about stuff. I'll eventually write a blog entry on the overly-corporatized music festivals and their issues. Overall, the lineup RockUSA gets is usually good and that's why I tolerate the other BS I mentioned above. Additionally, it's about hanging with friends and this is a place that is close for everyone else.
After getting inside, I walked around a bit and did some exploring.
As you can see from my last pictures, I wasn't able to get super close to the stage to get that great of photos, so I really don't have much for photos of the bands playing. The following was the lineup for the day:
1:15pm- Wayland
2:30pm- Crobot
3:45pm- Avatar
5:15pm- Falling in Reverse
6:45pm- Megadeth
8:45pm- Korn
10:45pm- Avenged Sevenfold
For Wayland, I missed most of their show because I was walking in with the rest of my friends. I could hear them off in the distance, and they did sound good. I've seen them a couple times and I do know they put on a good show. We were able to see Crobot and they put on a good show.
For stage shows, Avatar did amazing. It was probably the best stage show of RockUSA. I didn't stick around for Falling in Reverse and headed to the campsite, but I was back in time for Megadeth. Megadeth didn't have much for a stage show, but they just shredded hard and played amazing! This actually prompted me to buy some Megadeth CD's later on and listen to more of their music (I have in the past but seeing them live really bumped them up on my list of favorite bands).
Korn put on a good show and it was cool seeing them. For Avenged Sevenfold, I've seen them multiple times, mainly at RockUSA. When it comes to pyro, their shows are top notch. The pyro did seem a bit toned down this year, but it was still pretty good!
After all the concerts, I went back to the campsite. Since I'd been steadily drinking since 10am, was the first one up, and also had how many days on the road, I was actually really tired. I did do some partying, but definitely not as much as the night before. I knew I'd have to pace myself and try to get some rest if I wanted to make it the next 2 days.